Skip to main content

Eating Disorder


APSARA KATUWAL DANGOL

Eating disorder

Eating disorder is an illness which has features like irregular eating habits and concerned about the overweight or underweight of body. There are high chances of eating disturbances like taking excessive food until the craving ends and taking very less and often worried about weight, the shape of the body. Eating disorders include Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating. It occurs in both male and female but the female is more conscious related to shape and size of the body. The risk of eating disorder occurs from any age but it is more when a person reaches to teenage or adulthood phase as there is saying that one must look good and smart.



Types of Eating Disorder

The types of Eating Disorder are as follows:

Anorexia Nervosa
  • obsessive fear of gaining weight
  • refusing to maintain a healthy body
  • limiting the quantity of food

Bulimia Nervosa
  • over eating
  • usually vomiting after a meal
  • excessive exercise
  • extreme use of laxatives or diuretics
Binge Eating Disorder
  • lose control over his or her eating,
  • doesn't follow the compensatory behavior
  • such as fasting, or excessive exercise
Causes

The exact cause of Eating Disorder is unknown but the cause can be biological, psychological and environmental.
  • Biological cause includes hormone problems, genetics, and nutritional deficiencies.
  • Psychological cause includes negative body image, poor self-esteem.
  • Environmental cause includes dysfunctional family dynamics, modeling profession, cultural and peer pressure.

Sign and Symptoms of Eating Disorder

The sign and symptoms of the eating disorder are as follows:
  • chronic dieting
  • persistent worry about being fat content,
  • change in eating patterns like eating in a small bowl
  • fluctuation in weight,
  • obsession with calories and fat content
  • depression and guilt about eating habits
  • avoidance of social functions
  • adopting an overly restrictive vegetarian diet

Effects

The eating disorder can be life threatening and some of them are as follows:
  • psychological problems like depression and anxiety
  • having medical problems
  • Problem in work and school
  • suicidal thoughts may occur
  • the problem in growth and development
  • Relationship problems
Diagnosis

Diagnosis is preferred if some symptoms are matching. Physical examination like checking height, weight is measured and blood pressure and pulse rate is checked to determine whether the patient has the eating disorder or not.

Some laboratory test like a complete blood count, urinalysis, and liver, kidney, thyroid test is carried out by a doctor. Some organs can have the problem like bones can be broken due to anorexia or bulimia. There may be a sign of tooth decay. 

Then, the psychological examination is done and some screening questions related to the eating disorder is asked by a mental health professional to analyze the symptoms are related to criteria of DSM 5 for eating disorder.

Treatment

As eating disorder is life threatening, its treatment is necessary. The treatment process includes:
  • Medical help should be taken to make sure that there is no risk of health and to understand the health problems in the body part.
  • The nutritionist has to be contacted to get the fit and healthy body.
  • Therapies like family therapy, individual therapy, group therapy can bring good understanding between the connection of food and body and mind.

Medications
After eating disorder is diagnosed, medications if necessary has to be taken.Medications like antidepressants are used for Binge eating. SSRIs, such as Fluoxetine (Prozac) and Sertraline (Zoloft) can reduce depression and anxiety that has come through Binge eating, Anorexia, and Bulimia.

About Writer

Apsara Katuwal Dangol, is writer, educator, and psychosocial counselor. She writes articles which covers topics related to general and developmental psychology. She teaches to MA Clinical Psychology students as Developmental Psychology Mentor at Tri-Chandra College, and General Psychology at Shubhashree College of Management.


Reference

Diagnosing Eating Disorder
www.healthline.com/health/eating-disorder-diagnosis

Eating Disorder
www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/eating-disorders

Eating Disorders: Causes, Symptoms, Signs and treatment help
www.eatingdisorderhope.com/information/eating-disorder

Medication for eating disorder
www.edreferral.com/ed-medications

 Images: Pixabay.com/Karriezhu

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brief Description on "Self Concept "

APSARA KATUWAL  DANGOL Self Concept deals with describing own self and believing own self. Both Eastern and Western cultures have different views regarding Self Concept. According to Baumeister (1999), Self Concept is the individual's belief in himself or herself, including the person's attributes and who and what the self is. Within the development of Self Concept, there are different views and categories. According to Michael Lewis (1990), there are two categories of self-concept. i. The Existential Self: When a child is two to three months, he starts to have an existential self. He feels that he is a separate entity. He starts responding to other objects. ii.The Categorical Self: It is the sense of feeling of being an object to the world. Slowly child starts to connect himself to the world. And development related to internal traits start to develop. Carl Roger (1959) has claimed that self-concept has three component which includes self-image, self-esteem, and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Behavioral approach in Clinical Psychology

APSARA KATUWAL  DANGOL Behavioral approach is based on the belief that behavior can be learned. It focuses on a scientific and objective method of investigation. It is also concerned with observable Stimulus-Response behaviors. This approach also focuses on learning's role in developing both normal and abnormal behavior. Early theorist Ivan Pavlov discovered classical conditioning (associative learning). He conducted a famous study using dogs. It focused on the effects of a learned response to a stimulus. For example, a dog started salivating when it heard the bell. Here, the sound of the bell would symbolize the message of getting food. Another behaviorist, Edwar L. Thorndike discovered Operant Conditioning and later B.F. Skinner analyzed operant conditioning. It is based on rewards and punishment to shape people's behavior. Edward L. Thorndike discovered Animal Intelligence. He found that punishment didn't weaken S-R connections but inhibited their expression. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

History of Counselling in Nepal

APSARA KATUWAL DANGOL During 1947, Psychology was introduced in Tri-Chandra Multiple Campus affiliated to Indian University as an intermediate level as a part of philosophy. Tribhuvan University was established in 1959 and other college came into existence.Four more colleges introduced psychology in the academic subject in intermediate and bachelor level in 1966. During the 1960s, Psychology grew slowly and outside Kathmandu Valley, introduced in two colleges. In 1980, Master's level course was introduced.At present, psychology is taught in eight campuses. Psychosocial Counselling is in the infancy stage in Nepal.Due to many problems related to social issues, it has impacted in mental health so to deal with this issues psychosocial counseling is a major component of that care. Psychosocial Counselling was introduced by Training of Trainee (TOT) to help victims. Nowadays, many organizations are involved in it. Even The School of Psychology (TSOP) is part of it. In 1991, Tra...
Post a Comment
Read more